Evraz scales back at Colorado EAF mill

London- and Moscow-based steelmaker Evraz has reportedly issued layoff and furlough notices to some 200 workers at its electric arc furnace (EAF) Rocky Mountain Steel Mill in Pueblo, Colorado.

An online report by the Pueblo Chieftain newspaper describes the measures as temporary and relating to the severe downturn in the oil and gas drilling industries. Much of the plant’s output becomes tubular goods for those sectors.

Patrick Waldron, an Evraz spokesperson, is quoted by the Chieftain as saying, “For the oil and gas industry this is unprecedented, with the circumstances of the economic shock brought on by the coronavirus on top of the oil prices dropping.”

On its website, Evraz says it produces “rail, seamless pipe, rod and coiled reinforcing bar” at the Pueblo mill. An Evraz fact sheet on the facility says, “Our steelmaking operation melts more than 1.25 million tons of recycled metal scrap in its electric arc furnace (EAF)  each year to make more than 300 different grades of steel.”